The Definition of Success

The Definition of Success

SUCCESS

To laugh often and much 

to win the respect of intelligent people 

and affection of children; to earn the 

appreciation of honest critics and 

endure the betrayal of false friends;

to appreciate beauty, to find the best

in others; to leave the world a bit 

better, whether by a healthy child

a garden patch or redeemed

social condition; to know even

one life has breathed easier because

you have lived. This is to have 

succeeded.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Definition of Success
Excerpted from Zig Ziglar's 'Born to Win!'

What Success Is: 

1. Success is knowing that you did a great job when you close the door to your office at the end of each workday and head for home. 
2. Success is having a home and people to love who love you in return. 
3. Success is having the financial security to meet your obligations each month and the knowledge that you have provided that security for your family in the event of your demise. 
4. Success is having the kind of faith that lets you know where to turn when there seems to be no place to turn. 
5. Success is having an interest or hobby that gives you joy and peace. 
6. Success is knowing who you are, and Whose you are. 
7. Success is taking good care of you and waking up healthy each day. 
8. Success is slipping under the covers at the end of the day and realizing with gratitude that, “It just doesn’t get much better than this!” You see from this list that success is defined by more than one sentence. Success involves the whole person, and if you skimp on one area, you will limit your success. 

Now, let’s take a look at what success isn’t: 

What Success Isn’t: 

1. Success isn’t missing dinner with the family several times a week because of working excessively. 
2. Success isn’t rushing home from work and hiding out with the TV thinking, “After the day I’ve had, I need my space!” 
3. Success isn’t about how to make more money when you already have more money than you can spend. 
4. Success isn’t about going to church and ignoring everything you hear. 
5. Success isn’t all work and no play. 
6. Success isn’t about being so busy that you live on unhealthy fast food, served to you through little windows. 
7. Success isn’t spending mental energy worrying about late projects, being home on time, your health, missing your child’s school play, being able to pay your bills, or finding joy in your life. 
8. Success isn’t texting while you drive to catch up on your overloaded schedule. - 

Christians, We Are Repenters

Christians, We Are Repenters

Trevin Wax

When I was living in Romania and learning the language, one of the first words I encountered was pocăit. Roughly translated, it means “repenter.” It was a derogatory label given to evangelical believers last century. There were cultural “Christians,” and then there were pocăiții - “repenters” who believed an ongoing life of repentance was essential to the Christian life.

What separated our church from cultural Christianity we came into contact with was our insistence on repentance in response to God’s unmerited favor. In light of God’s grace, we called people to repent of their sins, their self-justification, and devote themselves wholly to Christ.

I pray that in the West, we will be like our Romanian brothers and sisters: dissatisfied with the idea of being Christian in name only, and passionate about living as “repenters” who have tasted the goodness and grace of God and can never be the same again.

Below are ten characteristics of repentance I hope we can all say with honesty.

We are repenters.

We repent of living for ourselves, and so we commit to trading our personal kingdom agendas for the kingdom agenda of Jesus Christ.

We are repenters.

We repent of making God out to be more like us, and so we ask God to change our hearts and make us more like Him.

We are repenters.

We repent of our silly attempts to justify ourselves before God and make ourselves pleasing to Him through our own efforts, and so we ask Him to save and sustain us in His unwavering grace and help us rest in Christ’s work on our behalf.

We are repenters.

We repent of our hypocrisy and self-righteousness, and so we ask God to deliver us from doublemindedness and help us seek His righteousness above all.

We are repenters.

We repent of valuing most what other people think, and so we ask God to help us value most what He thinks.

We are repenters.

We repent of withholding areas of our life from God’s command, and so we ask God to invade and overcome every part of us – our hopes, our desires, our dreams, our thoughts, our actions – and show us how to love Him and love others from a whole heart.

We are repenters.

We repent of seeking a life of ease and comfort, and so we ask God for the courage to pick up our crosses and follow Christ no matter the cost.

We are repenters.

We repent of all the good things we have failed to do, and so we ask God to open our eyes to the opportunities for us to shine His light in a dark world.

We are repenters.

We repent of serving ourselves and our own interests, and so we ask God to empower us to serve others in the name of His Son.

We are repenters.

We repent of taking pride in our own repentance, and so we ask God to remind us that salvation is all of grace and to humble us before the cross.

The Art of Giving

We give of ourselves when we give gifts of the heart:

Love, kindness, joy, understanding, sympathy,

tolerance, forgiveness.

We give of ourselves when we give gifts of the mind:

Ideas, dreams, purposes, ideals, principles,

plans, projects, poetry.

We give of ourselves when we give gifts of the spirit:

Prayer, vision, beauty, aspiration, peace, faith.

We give of ourselves when we give the gift of words:

Encouragement, inspiration, guidance.

Emerson said it well:

"Rings and jewels are not gifts,

but apologies for gifts.

The only true gift is a portion of thyself."

From The Art of Living

by Wilfred A. Peterson